Smoke stratum, valley of Deer Creek at Nevada City. In the foreground is
a pit from hydraulic mining. The smooth skyline marks a dissected
plateau of andesitic lava. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 8 a.m., 28 October
1905 (U.S. Geological Survey
/ U.S. Department of the Interior)

Hydraulic mining pits at North Columbia, The pit in the foreground is
known as "The Consolidated"; in the distance, at left, is the "Union
Diggings"; at right the "Sailor Flat" nine. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, n.d. (U.S. Geological Survey
/ U.S. Department of the Interior)

Tailings from hydraulic mining, Shady, near Patterson. The tailings were
deposited in the creek valley as an alluvial fan, and were afterward
partly eroded. Trees buried by the gravels were killed, but their stumps
remained erect. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1909 (U.S. Geological Survey
/ U.S. Department of the Interior)

Tailings from hydraulic mining, Shady Creek, near Patterson. The
tailings were deposited in the creek valley as an alluvial fan, and were
afterward partly eroded. Trees buried by the gravels were killed, but
their stumps remained erect. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1909 (U.S. Geological Survey
/ U.S. Department of the Interior)

Tailings from hydraulic mining, Shady Creek, near Patterson. The
tailings were deposited in the creek valley as an alluvial fan, and were
afterward partly eroded. Trees buried by the gravels were killed, but
their stumps remained erect. Nevada County, California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1909 (U.S. Geological Survey
/ U.S. Department of the Interior)

Earthflow at Blue Tent, A field, supposed to have been previously
smooth, is thrown into undulation by a general flow of underlying
gravels, the flow being occasioned by hydraulic mining. Nevada County,
California: photo by Grove Karl Gilbert, 1909 (U.S. Geological Survey
/ U.S. Department of the Interior)

Tom, This hits close to home. Less than two hours from here, at Kayford Mountain in West Virginia, there’s a ‘mountain-top removal’ site. In fact, the whole mountain is being removed, using ‘earth-moving equipment’ that scoops away the ‘over burden’ one Greyhound-bus-sized-bite at a time to expose the coal seam. (The parentheses seem necessary to call into question what is unreal, euphemistic, and a lie). For years, my wife has taken her Appalachian Studies classes to observe the desecration up close and in progress, from the property of a neighboring landowner who, allied with many others, remains helpless to stop what is happening.